CrossFit Inferno WOD for Friday August 5, 2011

At the Games there are always great stories of achievement. But this year I saw another which is a great story of sport and competition. Rob Orlando, the crossfit strongman, who has trained hard this year to better his 12th place from last year, came into the very first event confident in his training. He said he was ready for whatever was going to come his way. In the first event, there was an open ocean swim. Rob decided to let the pack go ahead so he didn't have to battle the group in the water. As he entered though, he started to take in some water. He tried to continue but between the water and the other competitors splashing around him, he started to go under. He wasn't able to push off the bottom and then he hit that point of no return. He realized he wanted to be able to go home Monday to see his family. He reached out to the lifeguard and he was pulled out of the water. Rob was official DQ'ed from the event but was allowed to compete in the following events up to the first cut. With his head held high, he did the next 4 events. He even repped out 225# in the Rope Climb-Clean Workout!!! He rallied the crowd and then had them counting out his reps up to 8. With a big smile on his face and a wave to the crowd, he left the floor. I talked to Rob later and he said that even though the first event left a stinging feeling, he still had the best time of any Games he had been to and he wouldn't change anything. Rob is still a crowd favorite and a great sportsman. What I liked best about his story was that you could see he was there to compete, but it was also for the love of the game! I could see it in his face when I talked to him and you could see it in his actions. It was a great weekend for him and for the fans who got to watch him!